John Major Jenkins discussed what he sees happening in less than two years based on the Mayan calendar, how that calendar was rediscovered and the various ways the 2012 idea has been interpreted. The Mayan Long Count calendar was developed around 2,100 years ago in Izapa, Mexico, using data calculated over hundreds of years, he detailed. The reason why they chose the end date in 2012 was to "target the rare alignment with the solstice sun with the Milky Way galaxy," though it is a misnomer to think of this as the end of their calendar, he said. The other big misconception is the 'doomsday' interpretation, first expressed in a book by Michael Coe in the 1960s, and more recently picked up by the media, and in movies like Roland Emmerich's 2012, Jenkins continued. We in the West tend to associate endings with Armageddon, but that is not the mindset of the Maya who thought in terms of cycles, he explained. Jenkins also talked about his research at Tortuguero, where ancient inscriptions referenced the 2012 date, as well as some of the historiography associated with the Maya & 2012, including the Harmonic Convergence, and the works of Jose Arguelles, and Carl Calleman.
John Major Jenkins [1964 - 2017} was an independent researcher who has devoted himself to reconstructing ancient Mayan cosmology and philosophy. Since 1986, John has traveled to Mexico and Central America seven times. In 1990 he helped build a school in San Pedro, near Lake Atitlan in Guatemala. In 1994 he delivered relief supplies to a Quich? Maya community in the Western highlands of Guatemala. Since beginning his odyssey of research and discovery with the Maya, John has authored dozens of articles and seven books. As a visiting scholar, Jenkins has taught classes at The Institute of Maya Studies in Miami, The Maya Calendar Congress in Mexico, The Esalen Institute, Naropa University and many other venues both nationally and abroad. He has been interviewed on numerous radio and television shows. John has been featured on the Discovery Channel?s "Places of Mystery" series, which continue to be broadcast regularly on the Travel Channel. John`s careful scholarship and cutting-edge insights into why the Maya chose 2012 to end a great World Age cycle have been endorsed by the most progressive thinkers of our day.
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